Anti-thumb sucking device



Feb. 21, 1961 F. w. MacDONALD ANTI-THUMB sucKING DEVICE Filed July 8, 1959 INVENTOR. FEE DFZICK MACDONALD WILSON, LEWIS #M EAE ANTI-THUNIB SUCKING DEVICE Frederick W. MacDonald, 1302 David Whitney Bldg, Detroit, Mich.

Filed July 8, 1959, Ser. No. 825,796

2 Claims. (Cl. 128-133) This invention relates to an anti-thumb sucking device and more particularly to a thumb sucking preventer which restrains the motion of the forearm at the point where the hand can touch theface but does not restrict normal muscular movement or create an unsightly appearance.

Thumb sucking, as is Well known, is an undesirable habit frequently acquired by children and infants. It is undesirable from both the points of view of culture and sanitation. In addition, there is the very real possibility of deformation of the bone structure adjacent the mouth as a result of long continued thumb sucking.

There have been a variety of devices previously proposed to discourage this habit. The devices generally fall into two general classes: guards for the thumb or hand and harnesses to restrain arm movement. Guards are disadvantageous in that they are unsightly, restrict the use of fingers and hands, and are generally ineffective in the stated objective because infants and children will frequently continue to place both guard and thumb in the mouth. Harnesses are generally disadvantageous in that they prevent normal arm movement of the child consequently inhibiting development of the arm muscles as well as discouraging normal arm use which is not an objective when breaking a child of the thumb sucking habit.

According to the present invention, the use of a guard is dispensed with, and in addition, undue restriction of arm movement is also avoided. Arm movement is restricted somewhat by the present invention but only at the point where the hand or thumb will be actually inserted into the mouth. Such restriction amounts to only an inch or so and will not stop normal arm motion.

'It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide an anti-thumb sucking device.

Another object of the invention is to provide a thumb sucking preventer which will restrain bending of the arm to a point where the thumb or fingers may be inserted into the mouth.

Another object of the invention is to provide an arm restraining device in the form of a bracelet seourable on the upper arm.

Another object of the invention is to provide such a bracelet that will not irritate the skin but which is difficult for an infant or child to displace or remove.

Other objects of this invention will appear in the following description and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of the anti-thumb sucking device of the present invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevational view of the thumb sucking preventer shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a view illustrating the use of the thumb sucking preventer of Fig. 1 with the arm extended.

Fig. 4 is a view of the thumb sucking preventer illustrating the restraining action on the forearm.

tates Patent 'ice 2 Fig. 5 is a Sectional view of the thumb sucking preventer taken substantially along the line 5-5 of Fig. 2 looking in thedirection of the arrows.

Before explaining the present invention in detail, .it

is to be understood that the invention is not limited in its application to the details of construction and arrangement of parts illustrated in the accompanying drawings, since the invention is capable of other embodiments and of being practiced or carried out in various ways. Also, it is to be understood that the phraseology or terminology employed herein is for the purpose of description and not of limitation.

As may be seen in Figs. 1, 2 and 5, the anti-thumb sucking preventer 10 of the present invention comprises an arcuate, flexible band or bracelet 12 shaped to .en-

circle the upper arm. The band 12 is slit, forming free 7 end portions 14, 16 which permit radial expansion of the bracelet to fit the arm of the wearer. The band 12 is preferably a hard, flexible-plastic material,- suchas an acrylic resin, for example, methyl or ethyl methacrylate. Such plastic is not irritating to the skin and is readily formed into a flexible band.

The entire edge portion of the band 12 is provided with a guard 18 to prevent the sharp edges from cutting or irritating, the wearers arm and also to frictionally engage the arm and prevent the bracelet from slipping down the arm or sliding around the arm. The guard 18 is formed from a length of soft rubber or plastic tubular material which is slit longitudinally and secured to the band 12 by means of a suitable adhesive.

As may be noted in Fig. 2, a plurality of members 20, which may be termed stop members, are spaced around the inner surface of the band 12. The stop members 20 are preferably a soft yielding material, such as foamrubber, Which is non-irritating to the skin but which will provide a frictional contact with the skin to prevent rotation or sliding of the band 12. If desired, a germicidal material such as potassium permanganate may be impregnated into the stop members 20 to assist in preventing irritation to the skin. The stop members 20 also act to space the band 12 from the arm and permit ventila tion of the area beneath the bracelet.

A relatively soft, yielding, elongated member 22 is provided on the outer surface of the band 12. The member 22 extends outwardly to impinge against the wearers forearm and limit movement of the forearm towards the face which will be hereinafter more fully described. The member 22 is located at the edge of the band 12 to be adjacent the crook of the elbow and is positioned diametrically opposite the free ends 14, 16 of the band 12. The member 22 is preferably a soft, pliable plastic or rubber tube having sufficient rigidity to prevent undue compressions thereof but being soft enough to avoid injuring the wearers arm.

As shown in Fig. 3, the bracelet 10 is secured to the upper arm 24 with the member 22 facing upwardly. As illustrated in Fig. 4, when the wearer bends his arm to place his fingers or thumb in his mouth, the projection 22 will impinge against the forearm 26 and stop movement thereof at a point just short of the face. This point may be easily controlled by the size of the projection 22. This restriction effectively inhibits thumb sucking but does not limit normal arm movement. The wearer is prefectly free to eat or perform any other normal task which he may find necessary. The length of an eating utensil, such as a spoon or fork, is suflicient to permit its insertion into the mouth for eating purposes while my device is in place on the arm.

As may be readily appreciated, the thumb sucking preventer of the present invention is easily secured to a child's arm. The device is designed to cause the least amount of irritation to the arm and skin area which it contacts and the 'child wearing it will not normally be aware of its presence. While the device has been described in terms of use by infants or very young children, it may also be used by people of more mature years to inhibit the habit of fingernail biting. Inrsuch a use,

it will act more as a reminder than as an actual restraining force, since the more mature person would be able "to remove the device at will.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A thumb sucking preventer comprising a bracelet 10 including an arcuate flexible band shaped to encircle the upper arm; said band being slit to form a pair of free ends to permit radial expansion thereof to lit the arm of the wearer; a tubular guard of soft, non-abrasive material extending around the entire edge portions of the band to 15 prevent irritation to the wearers arm; and a soft yielding elongated member provided on the outer surface of the band diametrically opposite from said slit to form an outwardly extended projection to impinge against the wearers forearm and limit movement of the forearm to- 20 wards the face.

2. A thumb sucking preventer comprising a flexible expansion bracelet including an arcuate flexible band of a plastic material shaped to encircle the upper arm at a point adjacent the crook of the elbow; said band being slit to from a pair of free ends to permit radial expansion thereof to fit the arm of the wearer; a plurality of soft rubber stop members secured to the inner surface References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 598,343 Hill et a1. Feb. 1, 1898 1,431,915 De Barr Oct. 10, 1922 1,488,978 Faris Apr. 1, 1924 2,211,203 Goldman Aug. 13, 1940 

